Vol. 485 No. 4
76 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the computer programmes in use in his Department currently use a two digit year code or a four digit year code; if it is the former, the steps, if any, being taken to examine each line of computer programme in use in his Department to convert two digit to four digit codes to cope with the identification of the Year 2000; and, if so, when this conversion will be complete. [23484/97]
Both two and four digit date codes are currently in use in this Department. The Department of Foreign Affairs is finalising the details of its Year 2000 Plan to deal with the implications of the new millennium. In the course of the implementation of the plan all hardware and software in use in the Department will be examined and tested for Year 2000 compliance. The Department is inventorising its software with a view to deciding the elements which need to be replaced, upgraded or amended to ensure Year 2000 compliance. The steps necessary to ensure that both the hardware and software systems are Year 2000 compliant are expected to be completed by the second quarter of 1999.
77 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of lines of computer code in use in his Department and in each agency under its aegis. [23499/97]
It is estimated that there are 472,400 lines of code in the customised applications in use in the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Agency for Personal Service Overseas is the only agency under the aegis of the Department which uses a customized application. It is estimated that 4,000 lines of computer code are in use in this instance.
78 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give an estimate of the cost of converting and testing computer programmes in use in his Department and in each agency under his aegis for the Year 2000 problem; and the conversion from the punt to the euro. [23516/97]
As part of the Department of Foreign Affairs's Year 2000 Plan a preliminary examination of its IT infrastructure has been carried out. The estimated cost of IT related Year 2000 expenditure is £95,000 which is made up as follows: hardware, £75,000; software, £10,000; consultancy, £10,000.
This does not include the normal cost of replacing-upgrading existing hardware and software over the next two years.
The current estimate for IT related euro conversion costs is £10,000.
79 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if the computer programmes in use in her Department currently use a two digit year code or a four digit year code; if it is the former, the steps, if any, being taken to examine each line of computer programme in use in her Department to convert two digit to four digit codes to cope with the identification of the Year 2000; and, if so, when this conversion will be complete. [23488/97]
80 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the number of lines of computer code in use in her Department and in each agency under its aegis. [23503/97]
81 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will give an estimate of the cost of converting and testing computer programmes in use in her Department and in each agency under her aegis for the Year 2000 problem; and the conversion from the punt to the euro. [23520/97]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 80 and 81 together.
Most of the software in use in my Department is in the form of proprietary applications programmed by third parties. Most of this is general office software such as word processors, spreadsheets, database applications etc, with which the Deputy is no doubt familiar. My Department is not aware of the number of lines of code in each of these applications and would not regard such information as being necessary to deal with issues arising from the onset of the Year 2000.
In dealing with applications programme by third parties, the question of examining each line of code does not arise. My Department is instead contacting software vendors to confirm that their products are compatible and seeking updated versions of software where compatibility cannot be guaranteed. The provision of updated software to address customer problems is a normal feature of the software industry and I am assured that while investigations are still ongoing there will, on current evidence, be no undue difficulty in my Department meeting the Year 2000 deadline.
There are two specific cases where the Department has heavily customised a third party application. This has involved a total of approximately 100,000 — 120,000 lines of code. In one case it has already been established that Year 2000 issues are not a problem. Investigation is continuing in the other case but initial indications are that any problems are likely to be relatively minor.
Until investigations with sofeware vendors are complete my Department is not in a position to finalise the costs involved in ensuring that the third party application software which it uses is compatible with the Year 2000. However, initial indications are that this will be relatively low and will mainly relate to application testing.
One division of the Department makes use of a large quantity of software written in-house (about 400,000 lines of code). Some of this includes 2digit year codes. A Year-2000 Compliance Plan has been prepared and work has begun on implementing the plan. It is expected that modification of the code to make it Year-2000 compliant will be complete by the end of 1998. The cost of modification (including the cost of staff time) is estimated at £110,000.
